Muireann Duffy
The National Ploughing Championship is back for the first time since 2019 following two years of cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Approximately 300,000 visitors are expected to attend the event being held in Ratheniska, Co Laois over the next three days.
Those travelling to the event are being urged not to use satnav or online GPS navigation systems to plan their route to Ratheniska, with gardaí instead asking motorists to view the event's traffic plan on the Garda or National Ploughing Association's websites.
An Garda Síochána released a statement with the following advice.
"An Garda Síochána has a significant Policing Operation in place for the National Ploughing Championships taking place on Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd September 2022.
"With an anticipated in excess of 80,000 persons attending this event each day a Traffic Management and Parking Plan has been put in place.
"The assistance of all road users is required to allow Traffic to move freely to and from the event during these times.
"Gardaí are urging road users not attending the National Ploughing Championships to avoid the N80 at Stradbally and all approach roads to Ratheniska village from Tuesday 20th September at 6am to Thursday 22nd September at 8pm.
"For those attending the National Ploughing Championships, please view in the advance the Traffic Management Plan on Garda.ie or NPA.ie for the correct route to take depending on where you are travelling from.
"The Traffic Management Plan includes an interactive map, which can be viewed on any internet-enabled device.
"The map identifies various routes that attendees should use depending on where their journey commences and a written description and video information of their coloured route.
"These websites also provide valuable additional information for persons planning to attend the event."
Traffic from
South East/Carlow - follow
Ploughing Yellow Route -
Traffic from
Dublin/Leinster/North - follow
Ploughing Purple Route -
Traffic from
South East/Kilkenny - follow
Ploughing Grey Route -
Traffic from
West/North West – follow
Ploughing Green Route -
Traffic from
Limerick/Kerry/South West – follow
Ploughing Brown Route -
Traffic from
Cork/Munster – follow
Ploughing Blue Route -
This year's event will also see the staging of the 67th World Ploughing Contest which had been due to be held in St Petersburg, Russia in August.
Twenty-six competitors from countries around the world will take part, including entrants from New Zealand, Canada and Australia.
Competitions will begin on Wednesday and continue on Thursday.
